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Reprinted from The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 
Science, Philadelphia, July, 1919. 
Publication No. 1307. 

Democracy and Bolshevism 

By A. J. Sack 

Director of the Russian Information Bureau in the United States 

HP HE Russian problem became the central European problem, 
A and the central world problem, not a year ago, not two years 
ago, not since the revolution of March, 1917. The Russian prob- 
lem has been the central European and the central world problem 
for several decades. 

Let us go back to the revolution in 1905, the first open revolt of 
the people against the Czar's rule. If you will recall the events 
of the revolution of 1905-1906, you will recall also that there 
were moments in this revolution when it seemed that victory 
would rest with the people. In October, 1905, the Czar had to 
grant a constitution. In April, 1906, when the first Duma pre- 
sented the Czar with an address demanding liberal reforms, the 
structure of the old regime was tottering. Do you realize what 
happened to the entire world at the moment when the Russian 
people, the democracy of Russia, was defeated by the Czar's 
government in 1906? 

If you will recall the German literature, the military writings 
and even the general press, before 1914, you will find that the 
plan openly discussed by the German press was, in case of war, 
to crush France first and then turn to the East to meet the Rus- 
sian armies. The German logic was that since the Czar's gov- 
ernment was so unpopular in Russia, the population would not 
answer the Czar's call for mobilization, and that very probably 
a declaration of war would throw all Russia into the flames of a 
revolution. Consequently the Germans would have time enough 
to rush to Paris, to defeat France, and then turn to the Eastern 
front and snap up Russia, all in revolutionary flames. It is 
probable that, had the revolution in 1905 been successful, then 
nine years later, in 1914, Russia as a nation would have been so 
strongly united, and the alliance of a democratic Russia with the 
democracies of France and England would have been so natural 
that the German militarists and imperialists would not even have 
thought of starting the European slaughter. That means that 



2 



The Annals of the American Academy 



in 1906, when the Russian revolution was defeated, at that very 
moment a death sentence was signed for the children of thirteen 
to fifteen who were then innocently playing in the streets of 
Europe and of America. 

The fate, therefore, of Europe and almost of the entire world 
depended on the events of the first revolution in Russia. It is 
time to understand that during the last half century the cul- 
tural, the commercial, the technical and the financial bonds be- 
tween civilized peoples have grown so strong that the nations of 
the world have, in reality, become one body and one soul, and 
when there is an infection in one part of the body the entire body 
is in danger. The establishment of a stable, democratic govern- 
ment in Russia is a necessity for the entire world, and therefore 
the world cannot afford to remain indifferent to the political 
developments in Russia. 

The March revolution brought into existence Prince Lvov's 
and then Kerensky's Cabinet. Events in Russia during the 
past two years are in the main a death-grapple between the 
Socialists, who held the majority in the provisional government, 
and the Bolsheviki. There is a difference between socialism and 
bolshevism, and this difference must be thoroughly understood by 
every liberal-minded person. Socialism means governmental 
control over production and distribution; and the great teacher 
of scientific socialism, Karl Marx, was at the same time the 
great teacher of the law of evolution. All of us would like to 
jump from this modern life with its unpleasantness, direct to 
paradise. But a perfect state is possible — if possible at all — 
only after centuries of development, and the great teacher of 
scientific socialism, Karl Marx, understood this better than any- 
one else. Believing in socialism, believing that governmental 
control over production and distribution would open a new era in 
the life of society, Karl Marx taught that socialism is possible 
only after capitalistic development. The historic mission of 
capitalism, according to Karl Marx, is the development through 
private competition of the productive forces of society. Only 
after the productive forces are developed and wealth is concen- 
trated practically in the hands of a few can the democratic state 
enter and substitute governmental control for the control of 
private interests. The Socialists of Russia, the Social-Democrats 

Gift 
Pal 




Democracy and Bolshevism 



3 



and Socialists-Revolutionists as well, understood the prosaic 
law of evolution. The difference between the Socialists and the 
Bolsheviki is plain. While the Socialists of Russia, most of them, 
are responsible leaders, the Bolsheviki are demagogues. In the 
fall of 1917 the Bolsheviki came to power because they gave the 
suffering masses of the Russian people promises which they have 
never been able to fulfil. At the moment of the bolshevist revolt, 
in November, 1917, there was over 8,000,000 casualties in the 
Russian army, with about 3,000,000 dead and about 1,000,000 
disabled for life. Only an industrially developed country is able 
to wage a modern war, and you cannot imagine what it meant for 
poorly developed Russia to wage war against Germany, Austria- 
Hungary and Turkey during the three years. The Russian 
masses were anxious for peace. Not for a separate peace with 
the German imperialists but, if possible, for a general democratic 
peace. The responsible leaders, the provisional government, 
frankly stated to the masses of the Russian people that such a 
peace could not be obtained at that moment; that although bleed- 
ing and suffering, Russia must continue the war together with 
her Allies until German militarism was broken. Irresponsible 
bolshevist demagogues approached the masses with promises of 
immediate democratic peace, and more than this — of immediate 
realization of socialism in Russia. With the help of the German 
militaristic machinery they overthrew the provisional government 
and, after coming to power, brought to the people, instead of a 
general democratic peace, a shameful, separate peace with the 
German imperialists; instead of bread and happiness and imme- 
diate realization of socialism, a regime of starvation, destruction, 
murder in those parts of Russia where bolshevism rules. 

The Bolsheviki are camouflaging their regime with the terms 
"socialism," and "democracy." In truth their regime is a 
caricature of these two great ideals. No one who knows the 
nature of socialism will ever consider the Bolsheviki as Socialists, 
and no one who knows the nature of democracy will consider the 
Bolsheviki as democrats. The Bolsheviki do not recognize 
the fundamental principle of democracy — the right of every mem- 
ber of society, men and women, to participate in the government. 
According to the so-called soviet constitution there are entire 
classes of the population which are excluded from the government. 



4 The Annals of the American Academy 



And I wish to call attention to the fact that this soviet constitu- 
tion, undemocratic as it is, is still better than the practical appli- 
cation of this constitution to Russian life. The Bolsheviki have 
excluded from the government not only entire classes of the Rus- 
sian population, but they have excluded all the political parties 
which are opposed to their regime, the Liberals, the Constitu- 
tional-Democratic party, the Social-Democrats, the Mensheviki 
and the Socialists-Revolutionists. 

To conclude this brief sketch of the characteristics of the bol- 
shevist regime and its relation to the ideas of socialism and 
democracy, I shall quote now a document which, in my opinion, 
is one of the most important documents describing the conditions 
in Bolshevist Russia. It is the text of a telegram sent by the 
British High Commissioner, Mr. Bruce Lockhart, to the British 
Foreign Office on November 10, 1918, as published in the official 
British White Book on Bolshevism. Mr. Lockhart telegraphed: 

The following points may interest Mr. Balfour: 

1. The Bolsheviki have established a rule of force and oppression unequalled 
in the history of any autocracy. 

2. Themselves the fiercest upholders of the right of free speech, they have 
suppressed, since coming into power, every newspaper which does not approve 
their policy. In this respect the socialist press has suffered most of all. Even 
the papers of the Internationalist Mensheviki, like Martov's, have been sup- 
pressed and closed down, and the unfortunate editors thrown into prison or 
forced to flee for their lives. 

I 3. The right of holding public meetings has been abolished. The vote has 
been taken away from everyone except the workmen in the factories and the 
poorer servants, and even amongst the workmen those who dare to vote against 
the Bolsheviki are marked down by the bolshevist secret police as counter- 
revolutionaries, and are fortunate if their worst fate is to be thrown into prison, 
of which in Russia today it may truly be said, "many go in but few come out." 

4. The worst crimes of the Bolsheviki have been against their socialist oppo- 
nents. Of the countless executions which the Bolsheviki have carried out a large 
percentage has fallen on the heads of Socialists who had waged a life-long struggle 
against the old regime, but who are now denounced as counter-revolutionaries 
merely because they disapprove of the manner in which the Bolsheviki have 
discredited socialism. 

5. The Bolsheviki have abolished even the most primitive forms of justice. 
Thousands of men and women have been shot without even the mockery of a 
trial, and thousands more are left to rot in the prisons under conditions to find a 
parallel to which one must turn to the darkest annals of Indian or Chinese 
history. 



Democracy and Bolshevism 



5 



6. The Bolsheviki have restored the barbarous methods of torture. The 
examination of prisoners frequently takes place with a revolver at the unfortu- 
nate prisoner's head. 

7. The Bolsheviki have established the odious practice of taking hostages. 
Still worse, they have struck at their political opponents through their women 
folk. When recently a long list of hostages was published in Petrograd, the 
Bolsheviki seized the wives of those men whom they could not find and threw 
them into prison until their husbands should give themselves up. 

8. The Bolsheviki, who destroyed the Russian army, and who have always 
been the avowed opponents of militarism, have forcibly mobilized officers who 
do not share their political views, but whose technical knowledge is indispen- 
sable, and by the threat of immediate execution have forced them to fight against 
their fellow-countrymen in a civil war of unparalleled horror. 

9. The avowed ambition of Lenin is to create civil warfare throughout Europe. 
Every speech of Lenin's is a denunciation of constitutional methods, and a 
glorification of the doctrine of physical force. With that object in view he is 
destroying systematically, both by execution and by deliberate starvation, 
every form of opposition to bolshevism. This system of "terror" is aimed 
chiefly at the Liberals and non-Bolshevist Socialists, whom Lenin regards as his 
most dangerous opponents. 

10. In order to maintain their popularity with the workingmen and with 
their hired mercenaries, the Bolsheviki are paying their supporters enormous 
wages by means of an unchecked paper issue, until today money in Russia has 
naturally lost all value. Even according to their own figures, the Bolsheviki's 
expenditure exceeds the revenue by thousands of millions of roubles per annum. 

Such is the picture of the bolshevist regime in Russia, and you 
can readily see that the Russian problem at this moment is prob- 
ably not so much a political as a moral problem. The Russian 
people are going through impossible tortures as a consequence of 
Russia's participation in the war. Loyal to her allies, Russia 
stood at her post for three long years, sacrificing not less than 
4,000,000 of her best sons. The strain of this war was too 
great for Russia and she collapsed, and the bolshevist regime is 
the result of the breakdown of her economic life. Russia is lying 
now in seas of blood and tears because she has sacrificed every- 
thing for the Allied cause. It is up to the Allies to help her. 

To help Russia means to help the Russian people and not those 
who have established in Russia a new tyranny worse even than 
the old tyranny of the Czars. Russia's salvation lies in the estab- 
lishment of a stable, democratic government through a Con- 
stituent Assembly freely chosen by the entire population on the 
basis of universal, direct, secret and equal suffrage. The Bol- 



6 



The Annals of the American Academy 



sheviki dispersed the first All-Russian Constituent Assembly in 
January, 1918, at the point of bayonets, but the idea of a Con- 
stituent Assembly, which was one of the main aspirations of the 
great revolution of March, 1917, is still alive, and the greatest 
Russian liberal, revolutionary and socialist leaders, led by such 
people as Catherine Breshkovsky and Nicholas Tchaikovsky, still 
support this idea. The American democracy cannot remain 
indifferent to the tragedy of the Russian people. The time has 
come, in my sincere opinion, when the American people must 
speak for the Russian democracy against those who have destroyed 
the new democratic institutions in Russia, who have dispersed the 
first All-Russian Constituent Assembly and who are doing every- 
thing in their power to prevent the convocation of another Consti- 
tuent Assembly. Whatever may happen in Russia, democracy 
will finally win. Citizens of the United States, support the 
Democracy of Russia! 



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